doi: 10.5365/wpsar.2013.4.2.009 THE SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY

It is now 10 years since the world was faced with the first severe and readily transmissible new disease of the 21st century – severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Unknown and unrecognized, it emerged in late 2002 as the probable cause of an outbreak of atypical pneumonia in Guangdong Province, southern China. It then spread to Hong Kong (China) via an infected traveller who arrived at his hotel on 21 February 2003 where he infected 15 other guests. They, in turn, travelled to other countries carrying the new disease and initiating outbreaks in Viet Nam, Singapore and Canada. Three weeks later, with increasing numbers of cases among hospital staff in Hong Kong (China) and Viet Nam, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global alert on 12 March 2003 about this new acute respiratory syndrome of unknown etiology. However, the disease was spreading rapidly along major air routes, prompting WHO to issue an emergency travel advisory on 15 March, as well as naming the new disease “severe acute respiratory syndrome ” and providing the first surveillance case definition.1 The disease continued to spread, reaching 26 countries on five continents and causing at least 8096 cases and 774 deaths worldwide before it was finally contained.2 The SARS epidemic had a dramatic effect on the global economy leading to serious economic losses, collapse of regional tourism and travel industries and substantial declines in the gross national product of affected countries.3 While actual figures for the cost of the outbreak vary and depend on different interpretations, the approximate cost was believed to approach US $ 40 billion. The legacies of SARS – international preparedness and readiness to respond to future threats in the Western Pacifi c Regio